The Cleveland Indians baseball team has announced it will remove the “Chief Wahoo” logo from its kit next year, after it was criticised for being a racist Native American caricature.

The character has red skin, a feather on its head and bears its teeth, according to Reuters.

Co-founder of the American Indian Movement, Clyde Bellecourt, had slammed the caricature as the “ugliest” of mascots based on the Native Americans.

The baseball team has been discussing the matter with Major League Baseball for around a year.

The logo was first used in 1947 and many fans had called for it to stay in place, but Paul Dolan, the owner of the team said "I‘m ultimately in agreement with Commissioner Manfred’s desire to remove the logo from our uniforms in 2019."

The Mayor of Cleveland has also said he applauds the team for showing "the city, nation and world that Cleveland is an inclusive place that values all diversity."

However the image is still going to be used on merchandise for sale in Ohio and Arizona where the baseball team trains.

A statement from the team said this would allow control of the trademark and means fans can still have their “connection” with the caricature.

It added that a new logo could be created but, for the time being, a capital C will be the main branding.

It is thought the move could cause other American sports team to make similar decisions on other images accused of being offensive.